Jonathan Ashton
Defender
W
6
L
8
D
3
Biography:
Appointed as player-assistant manager on the eve of the 2017/18 season, the local lad has enjoyed a long and successful career in the professional game as a no-nonsense and tough-tackling defender.
A product of the Leicester City Academy, where he emerged through the ranks from the age of 12 to eventually sign professional forms and make Premier League appearances in 2001/02.
Having been loaned out to Notts County and Oxford United, he joined the latter on a permanent basis in 2003 and went on to figure over 100 times for the club.
Spells with Rushden & Diamonds and Grays Athletic followed before he was snapped up by Stevenage Borough at the turn of 2009 and it was to prove to be a highly-successful time as he helped the club secure back-to-back promotions into The Football League and then League One.
Skippering the side and leading by example, he earned numerous Player of the Season accolades and England ‘C’ caps along the way as he made over 220 appearances for the club and was a firm favourite amongst the supporters for his never-say-die attitude and commitment to the cause.
After leaving Stevenage in the summer of 2015, he moved on to Crawley Town and then Braintree Town for whom he made National League appearances last term before going back to Grays Athletic for a time on loan.